With hopes for spring we had plans for of a day of golfing, boating, gardening or just enjoying the fresh air for this past week. But after suffering through the long cold winter, we were hit with a weekend of wet weather - 50 degrees, windy and rain for days. So what on earth were we going to do? Eat.
Breakfast or brunch can be one of the most interesting meals of the day. When you want to make something special and throw all caution to the wind, Eggs Benedict is your perfect selection.
Eggs Benedict is a dish consisting of slices of toast or halves of English muffins topped with smoked Canadian bacon or ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Bed and Breakfast Inns often serve this item, sometimes replacing the traditional ham or Canadian bacon with a local delicacy. They might use smoked salmon, fresh fish or crab. Cheese, spinach, asparagus or a slice of homegrown tomato is often included.
In 1894, Lemuel Benedict, a Wall Street broker who was suffering from a hangover, ordered “some buttered toast, crisp bacon, two poached eggs and a hooker of hollandaise sauce” at the Waldorf Hotel in New York.
The Waldorf's legendary chef, Oscar Tschirky, was so impressed that he put the dish on his breakfast and luncheon menus after substituting Canadian bacon for crisp bacon and a toasted English muffin for toasted bread.
Some erroneously believe it is named after the infamous traitor Benedict Arnold since the dish is English underneath, if it is prepared with an English muffin.
Eggs Benedict may have inspired McDonalds to create the Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich, which approximates the dish by substituting a circular, hard-cooked egg for the poached egg and adding a slice of American cheese.
There is now Eggs Benedict XVI, created to honor the background of the recently elected pope.
Sauerbraten, or sausage and rye bread are the eggs' accompaniments.
Eggs Florentine is a common variation of Eggs Benedict which replaces the bacon with sauteed spinach.
A version of Artichokes Benedict has been created for the dieter substituting cooked fresh artichokes for the muffins and using a mock hollandaise sauce to create a breakfast that is lower in carbohydrates and cholesterol than the original.
The variations of this dish are too numerous to mention. It seems that almost anything goes so be creative. Enjoy!
This column has been a collaborative effort between Auburn natives chef Max Hitchcock and his mother, Susan Silverman. They can be reached at Birdscapes@adelphia.net
Eggs Benedict is a dish consisting of slices of toast or halves of English muffins topped with smoked Canadian bacon or ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Bed and Breakfast Inns often serve this item, sometimes replacing the traditional ham or Canadian bacon with a local delicacy. They might use smoked salmon, fresh fish or crab. Cheese, spinach, asparagus or a slice of homegrown tomato is often included.
In 1894, Lemuel Benedict, a Wall Street broker who was suffering from a hangover, ordered “some buttered toast, crisp bacon, two poached eggs and a hooker of hollandaise sauce” at the Waldorf Hotel in New York.
The Waldorf's legendary chef, Oscar Tschirky, was so impressed that he put the dish on his breakfast and luncheon menus after substituting Canadian bacon for crisp bacon and a toasted English muffin for toasted bread.
Some erroneously believe it is named after the infamous traitor Benedict Arnold since the dish is English underneath, if it is prepared with an English muffin.
Eggs Benedict may have inspired McDonalds to create the Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich, which approximates the dish by substituting a circular, hard-cooked egg for the poached egg and adding a slice of American cheese.
There is now Eggs Benedict XVI, created to honor the background of the recently elected pope.
Sauerbraten, or sausage and rye bread are the eggs' accompaniments.
Eggs Florentine is a common variation of Eggs Benedict which replaces the bacon with sauteed spinach.
A version of Artichokes Benedict has been created for the dieter substituting cooked fresh artichokes for the muffins and using a mock hollandaise sauce to create a breakfast that is lower in carbohydrates and cholesterol than the original.
The variations of this dish are too numerous to mention. It seems that almost anything goes so be creative. Enjoy!
This column has been a collaborative effort between Auburn natives chef Max Hitchcock and his mother, Susan Silverman. They can be reached at Birdscapes@adelphia.net
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